Watkins Glen, N.Y. – As Connor Zielisch prepares for his Xfinity Series debut, Josh Wise tells him to prepare like his life depends on it and race like it doesn’t matter. The idea was to lighten the burden. The hype train is heating up. “As we’ve all seen, he’s going to be the next superstar,” AJ Allmendinger said. Zilisch finished 12th on Saturday. The ’88 Chevrolet was at the top of the field, entering practice when they were nearly four-tenths of a second off the field. The 18-year-old continued to build momentum to qualify for his series debut.
Unlike his Craftsman Truck Series debut at Round 1 in the United States, Zilisch cruised through Round 1, leaving the field in the dust and winning the first stage by more than 10 seconds. Zilisch pitted late in the race for fuel and restarted 14th, losing five additional pit lane spots to drivers who had earned points. Systemically, the No. 88 team finished third in Stage 2 behind Cup Series playoff drivers William Byron and Ty Gibbs. Almost everything slipped. After a lap 45 caution that left regular season leader Justin Allgeier behind, Gibbs, Sam Mayer and Zilisch came through the inside loop. At the end of the pitch, a penalty kick was taken again.
“I was stupid,” Zilish said. “Honestly, I thought Ty and Sam knew better than me and I should know better. “I thought the guys who have been racing in this series for a couple of years are going to do the right thing, so I thought, ‘OK, I’m going to follow them and try to be cool.’In a chaotic second half, the penalty ultimately proved to be a blessing in disguise for Zilic. The #88 team serviced Zilisch’s car and drove outside the fuel window to take the checkered flag. Andrew Overstreet, the crew chief for the 88 car, told Zilisch to keep a gallon of gas for about two laps of the 2.45-mile circuit.
Although most of the field needed overtime, Zilisch tore up the field with a gap between Gibbs and Mayer. Experienced spotter TJ Major taught the youngster how to save fuel despite his experience driving Era Motorsport’s LMP2 car. Coming into lap 1, Zilisch floored the throttle at the start/finish line, throwing him out of the corner. In the back, it completes “two football fields” before reaching a stop sign. Zilisch was on his way to victory until Matt DiBenedetto brought out a caution for a pit stop with six laps remaining. After a multi-vehicle accident at Turn 1 on the restart, Zilisch had to consider the next restart more than 20 minutes later under a red flag.
In the second overtime, Kaulig Racing teammates Shane van Gisbergen and Allmendinger hit the wing for the second and allowed Sheldon Creed to cross. Meanwhile, Zilish ran away, hugging a large wall. Another caution flew on the final lap, allowing Zilisch to return to the finish line and become the seventh driver in series history to win in his debut. “It’s hard to put into words how much this means to me,” added Zilish. “I worked hard for this race. I have been preparing for over 3 months. Other than the [Rolex] 24, this is probably the biggest race of the year for me. “It’s special for me to come here and prove that I can do this and compete at a high level.”
Zilisch had enough fuel to burn on the first lap, after which a cloud of smoke filled the front track. Zilisch races under the Trackhouse Racing development link and is closely associated with Shane van Gisbergen. Van Gisbergen and Scott Speed welcomed Zilić to the Red Bull family on Friday. The New Zealander knows how to win on his series debut (hello, first race on the streets of Chicago) and he knows Zilisch has the talent. “It’s impressive to see the effort he’s put in and how good he is at his age,” van Gisbergen said. “It was nice to meet him.”Allmendinger finished third in the last event and felt unable to threaten Zilisch during several restarts in the final race. Instead, he was surprised by how smooth the 18-year-old was.
“His leadership is incredible,” Allmendinger said of Zilisch. “He did well with all the restarts and everything we threw at him, but he’s got a ton of speed and he’s in a really good car, so that helps.”After the race, Zilisch celebrated Overstreet’s first victory as a crew chief with his No. 88 team. Several bowl stars, including 2023 champion Ryan Blaney, Tyler Reddick, Noah Gragson and Zane Smith all expressed their gratitude. Despite his compassionate actions and high regard for the other drivers, Zilish refuses to let them get to his head. “It’s nice that people tell me that, but the most important thing is that I have to be honest with myself and realize that I’m not at the highest level yet and I’m not going to win at the highest level yet. Zilish said. . “I won’t call myself a superstar until then.”
The only thing Zilisch didn’t accomplish Saturday was becoming the youngest driver to win an Xfinity Series race (that’s a month and two days away). That record is still held by two-time Cup champion Joey Logano. As a child, Logano was familiar with Mark Martin’s tagline: “The best thing since sliced bread.”
